Chaos Beastmen Army Background

Hello, everyone...

I'm a little new to the forum, but I figured I'd start with a bang. I've got the background story for my 40K Beastmen army I'd like you all to check out, and let me know if I'm too far off base. Just to let you know, the army is based on the LatD list, so with the new Chaos Codex coming out, I don't know what will happen to the army, but I'd like to hold on to the idea. Converting these guys is really fun, but I digress...

A Brief History of the BeastmenThere was a time, before the Horus Heresy, that the Imperium of Man was much more lenient than the Inquisition currently allows. In these times, the Penal Legions of the Imperial Guard saw humans fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with their mutated cousins. The diminutive Ratlings and oversized Ogryns were the most populous of their number, but also among these mutants were the grossly mutated Beastmen. One Penal Legion boasted a higher number of Beastmen in its ranks than any other; this was the 30th Regiment, and for this reason had come to be known as the “Raging Bulls.”

Beastmen were typically lacking in intelligence when compared to other humans, and this sometimes led to more bestial tendencies. Those who truly allowed the mutation to overtake their minds adopted personalities and behaviors that were no further developed than the animals they resembled. Perhaps they could not be considered truly “evil,” but they were certainly not fit for participation in human society. However, for as many Beastmen as there were who succumbed to these base instincts, there were just as many who retained their civilized nature. They could be gentle and kind, and they could recognize the sin that was their own corrupted bodies. It was these penitent Beastmen who formed the bulk of the 30th Regiment.

Despite their earnest displays of repentance, the Beastmen were treated more akin to prisoners or slaves than soldiers. They fed off the scraps of food remaining after the humans had their fill. Their training sessions were longer and more intense. Their quarters were small, cramped, and overpopulated, and when they were not either headed for battle or preparing for it, the Beastmen were kept in chains. Most of them accepted this precaution, knowing full well the bestial fury common among their kind, but a few harbored some resentment to this treatment, holding their tongues for the sake of the rest of their brethren.

Through the prejudice and deprecation of their race, the Beastmen served the Emperor with courage and zeal. They defended Imperial colonies from Ork incursions by answering their ferocity in kind. They have stood against the numberless Tyranid swarms and the unstoppable forces of the Necrons with implacable stoicism. Their efforts have saved the lives of millions of Imperial citizens, and yet history would never record their sacrifices. No Beastman would ever receive so much as a kind word as reward for his service. Again, most were satisfied to simply serve and await their honorable death in battle, but a few carried their grudge in silence.

Finally, the time would come that would change the 30th Regiment forever. Abbbadon the Despoiler had begun his Black Crusades, and the Raging Bulls were dispatched against his Traitor Legions. It was understood that they were not expected to survive against such overwhelming odds, but their presence should at least slow Abbadon’s encroachment on Imperial space. Aboard the great battlecruiser Absolution, the 30th Regiment headed into the dreaded region of space known as the Eye of Terror.

It wasn’t long before the Absolution encountered the enemy. After a fierce battle in space, the Absolution was forced deeper into the Eye of Terror, damaged nearly to the point of utter destruction. The 30th Regiment retreated to the Chaos world of Eidolon, where they began to effect repairs on their ship. Parts were scarce, as were supplies, and fuel was running short. The Regiment was forced to go planetside in search of materials and resources to survive.

Eidolon was a mixed blessing to the 30th Regiment. The landscape was largely wasteland, offering very little on the surface. However, there were several minerals beneath the crust, and mining operations began almost immediately to gather materials that could be refined for repairs to the Absolution. Many ores were familiar, but the miners also discovered a mineral that was never seen outside the Eye of Terror. It seemed to emit a strange energy only ever seen within the Warp, and so was termed “warpstone.”

The deleterious effects of raw warpstone were apparent almost immediately. With only a few hours’ exposure, many humans were mutated into simple shells of the men they once were, aggressive and feral. The effect on the Beastmen, however, was greatly reduced; it actually appeared that the warpstone increased the intelligence of some of the mutants exposed to it. So, the beastmen were put to work mining the warpstone instead of the humans. Once again, the few stayed quiet to benefit the many.

Shortly after its discovery, warpstone was adapted to fuel the power generators of the Absolution. The colonies on Eidolon also benefited from this new power source. The few Enginseers in the 30th Regiment experimented with the strange ore even further, and finally succeeded in adapting it for use with Imperial weaponry. At first, it was fashioned into simple grenades and explosives, a simple feat since it was naturally unstable. Later innovations would yield an adapted ammunition clip for the standard lasgun that would resemble the so-called “Hotshot” packs. Warpstone could even be refined into a liquid with similar properties to Prometheum, providing replacement ammunition for the standard flamers. With these innovations, the Raging Bulls felt confident that they could continue their fight against the Legions of Chaos.

After leaving the Eidolon sector, the Absolution encountered another Imperial vessel and immediately tried to establish contact. The two connected with one another, and the Absolution prepared to accept a boarding party from the other, expecting a warm greeting from fellow Imperial soldiers. The boarding party, however, upon seeing the great number of Beastmen aboard the ship, attacked with little hesitation. The human crew of the Absolution surrendered immediately and were taken aboard the other ship, but the mutants were slain without pretense or explanation. This was too much for even the most tolerant among the Beastmen to bear.

Wielding their newly-fashioned warpguns, the Beastmen of the Absolution fought back in earnest. They had suffered for generations only to be betrayed not only by the humans from across the galaxy, but also by those who had been part of their own Regiment. At long last, those decades of degradation had culminated in a grand uprising there in the Eye of Terror. As the fighting spread across the two vessels, the more numerous Beastmen began to take the upper hand.

Now the full implications of the Beastmen’s additional mutation by warpstone became apparent. Their newfound intelligence allowed them to organize more efficiently, making them an even more effective fighting force. They could use tactics more sound than a simple enraged frenzy to work against their foes. Even more significant was the fact that they didn’t only kill the humans, but took many prisoners, with more sinister intentions. By the time the fighting was over, the Beastmen had won, and the two ships were fused together by a combination of the Absolution’s new engine output and the strange conditions in the Eye of Terror.

The 30th Regiment, now controlled by the rebelling Beastmen, returned to the Eidolon sector, this time to make it their home. Mining under the planet’s surface resumed, this time with humans laboring under the Beastmen’s supervision. As those humans mutated under the influence of the warpstone, their minds were corrupted even more than their bodes, allowing the Beastmen to include them in their ranks as assault troops. The humans’ poor treatment of the Beastmen was being repaid in kind.

Dominating the human population of Eidolon worked well for some time, but eventually, the Beastmen craved more. They began raiding nearby human colonies, taking as many prisoners as they could. Many prisoners were simply used as laborers, to be added later to the ranks of so-called Ferals as their sanity was erased by the warpstone. Some humans who claimed to surrender were fitted with compliance gear to fight among the Beastmen’s ranks. A rare few unfortunate prisoners had a much more dire fate ahead of them.

Several Shamans rose from the masses of ordinary Beastmen, gifted with strange psychic powers that the others both feared and respected. They proclaimed the word of the Chaos gods, driving the Beastmen to further acts of vengeance against the Imperium of Man. It is these Shamans who developed the rituals by which they could attempt to transform normal humans into Beastmen themselves. While some succeeded, others failed this “Rite of Judgment,” mutating uncontrollably into Chaos Spawn.

Thanks to the raids on humans and praise to the Ruinous Powers, the Beastmen can now recruit more to their cause. The four gods of Chaos grant them the power they desire to overturn the Imperium of Man. They still maintain their raids on human colonies, stealing supplies and taking prisoners to ever increase their overall strength. The chains that once bound them to Imperial service are now worn proudly by the leaders as a symbol of their solidarity; each Beastman considers himself a link in the great chain that will eventually strangle the Imperium of Man.

So... what do you think? I've got background for a commander character, too, which I may put in a different post later.

Yeah. When Chaos 4e comes out this is totally buggered. Which is a pity, because it is a fantastic idea, and you've clearly put some effort into it.

You have got some mix-ups with the timeline that present only minor nigglies. Firstly, use of mutants and abhumans as military auxiliaries wasn't really an Imperial practice until after the Heresy, when such races were first discovered and such troops were desperately needed to pacify the galaxy. Secondly, the Guard was called the Imperial Army pre-Heresy, and they incorporated the Navy. Thirdly, Necrons and Tyranids didn't show up until the late 39th century, some eight thousand years after the Heresy. Back then the only real enemies the Imperium had were Orks (who were a lot tougher back then) human independents, and occasionally Eldar pirates.

If you just relocated it to immediately after the Heresy, everything's fine. Unless they're already set in that period, in which case I've misunderstood you.

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Come, sons of LO! Kneel before Poodle!

Mr_Wayne: "Some people believe that the World Eaters do not field any ranged weaponry. Those people often die at a distance."

Poodle: Thanks; that's exactly the kind of help I was looking for. I didn't know about the timeline problems, and now I can fix them without really messing with the spirit of the story. Does the appearance of Abbadon seem to be about the right time?

Kossolax: I was going to use Lost and the Damned, but now, I don't know. Right now, because I feel so vested in the project, I'll probably continue to build te models, at least, and maybe see if I can shoehorn them into the Codex: Daemons when it comes out. Until then, I'm going back and forth as to how to use them with the LatD list as it stands, whether to follow the new Chaos Codex or the old one that it stems from.

And, just to let you know, here's how a lot of the models go:HQ: Aspiring Champions - Beastman style! I've got one beastman in power armor built so far, and their commander is under construction as of this writing.Troops: Mostly Mutants with Blessing of Nurgle - Gors wearing carapace armor. Mutants with Blessing of Slaanesh represent half-mutated humans I've termed "Ferals." Traitors represent human slaves subjugated under their command. Still to come are Mutants with Blessing of Tzeentch - Centigors.Elites: Big Mutants will be represented by Ogres with boar's heads - I call them Swinegors. Don't have any built yet, but they're a little lower on the list.Fast: Chaos Hounds, represented by mutated boars - Tuskgors. I've got one completed, and four more under construction.Heavy: Chaos Spawn, plain and simple. I'm also thinking about a Defiler.

100% of this army will be conversions, the heavier, the better. I'll try to post pics in the appropriate forum sometime soon.

The only problem I can see is the whole 'in the past things were more lenient' stuff.. The pre-heresy age often gets romanticised into some kind of golden era. Most fluff evidence I've seen points to it being far more puritanical than the modern Imperium, especially as regards chaos..

I'd change it so that the mutants began as partially animalised abhumans (I forget the official name for those things) and progressed into beastmen as they fell to chaos and were altered by the power of the warp. The Imperium seems to have quite a clear distinction between acceptable and unacceptable degrees of mutation.. Horns and cloven hooves have always been right out.

I'd also be inclined to make them resemble more closely their Warhammer compatriots (but maybe that's just because I like the background for warhammer beastmen.) At the end of the day they're chaos mutants, so I'd refrain from making them too rational..